"This American Life" today! Amazing. Heartbreaking to know what we could have done in Iraq...and

[BrklynLiberal]

we were WARNED! BEFORE the invasion..by a monograph worked on by Conrad Crane and issued months before the invasion!
It predicted with eerie accuracy EXACTLY what happened in Iraq due to BushCo's stupidity. The reporter on this segment of "This American Life" says it reads as if the writers had traveled back from the future(now) to the beginning of 2003 and wrote down what they had seen. They provided solutions and tactics to avoid exactly what has come to pass.
The correspondent speaks to Crane, several high-level military personnel, and the author of "Fiasco", Washington Post writer, Thomas Ricks

Earlier articles about this monograph.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16222877/site/newsweek/
The Book on Iraq
The Pentagon issues a guidebook on fighting a counterinsurgency.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240575/site/newsweek/
The Military: Conrad Crane
With Iraq in flames, a historian rethinks the way we fight the enemy.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-10-24-insurgence-intel_x.htm
Prewar intelligence predicted Iraqi insurgency

http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/Pubs/people.cfm?q=25
Added February 01, 2003
Type: Monograph
Reconstructing Iraq: Insights, Challenges, and Missions for Military Forces in a Post-Conflict Scenario.
Authored by Dr. Conrad C. Crane, Dr. W. Andrew Terrill.
In October 2002, the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute, in coordination with the Office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff/G-3, initiated a study to analyze how American and coalition forces can best address the requirements that will necessarily follow operational victory in a war with Iraq. The objectives of the project were to determine and analyze probable missions.


"This American Life" web-page
http://www.thislife.org/
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=333

Interview on NPR 3/06
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5311270
U.S. Military Rethinks Counterinsurgency Strategy
Morning Edition, March 30, 2006 · The U.S. Army is trying to figure out how to deal more effectively with the insurgency in Iraq. Steve Inskeep talks with the lead author of the soon-to-be-published manual on insurgencies, retired Army Col. Conrad Crane. He's the director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute at the Army War College.



The rest of the show focuses on Iraq as well. It is a must listen!!!!
There is a further interview with Thomas Ricks

[stellanoir]

1. This American Life is a phenomenal show.

Ira Glass just seems to get a kick out of such a wide swath of quirkiness.

Tough to be funny about this matter though.

Thanks for the heads up.

K & R'd

[Rydz777]

2. Bush's war plan: "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and

fury, signifying nothing." In this nation of over 300 million people, there were some who saw the stupidity in advance and the diaster coming on the horizon. Sadly, they were not in the Senate (a few exceptions) and certainly not in the White House.

[stellanoir]

3. Listening now

It's an amazing report and completely pinpoints how the experts' research was thoroughly ignored.

And how the militarists prevailed despite the experts' painstaking research.

The interviewer, (one of the producers of the show) said it's as though the authors of one report stepped into the future about ramifications of an invasion and went back in time to report about it in 1/03. Sorry I was driving so I didn't retain the names.

The were stunningly accurate.

Their work was completely shelved.

Please it's worth your time to listen to the archived show if you can.

[Up2Late]

4. Absolutly! I'm re-listening to this again for probably the 4th time.

This one is a MUST HEAR Show!

<http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB182.pdf>

From Page 24:

"...even under free elections, differences within Iraqi society may be
further exacerbated...."

Page 35:

"...Unlike a variety of other dictatorships, many Iraqi citizens have access to firearms.
One of Saddam’s most common ways of rewarding loyal tribal sheikhs is to allow them to arm their followers.
Moreover, a variety of militias in Iraq have been equipped with weapons as part of a regime defense strategy. These
weapons can become a problem following the war...."

Page 32:

"...To tear apart the Army in the war’s aftermath could lead to the destruction of one of the only forces for
unity within the society. Breaking up large elements of the army also raises the possibility that demobilized soldiers
could affiliate with ethnic or tribal militias...."

Page 40:

"...If the United States assumes control of Iraq, it will therefore assume control of a badly battered
economy...."

Page 38:

"...After the first year, the possibility of a serious uprising may increase should severe disillusionment
set in and Iraqis begin to draw parallels between U.S. actions and historical examples of Western imperialism...."

Page 35:

"...Having entered into Iraq, the United States will find itself unable to leave
rapidly, despite the many pressures to do so...."